Evil's New Claim...
by The TurquoiseCow
Summary: Sequel to A Stranger Digiworld. A new evil is in control of the Digiworld, and they're after Ken. Why? Chapter Seven added 02-17-02 [Reunited - Partially]
1. Part One: Thinking, Planning, Doing.

In an alternate universe… Gateway Normal Gateway 2 82 2001-11-03T04:36:00Z 2001-11-03T04:36:00Z 4 1775 10121 84 20 12429 9.2720 

Part One: Thinking, Planning, Doing. 

***

Note: Only the plot is mine.

***

Yagami Taichi stared pensively out the window as he thought about what had happened only a week before. His younger sister had traveled to an alternate universe – complete with an alternate Digiworld – and helped to save it. 

Taichi had to admit he had been a little worried over Hikari's disappearance. The others would have said that he was very worried, though he was inclined to think they might be exaggerating. After all, Hikari was eleven years old now, and quite able to take care of herself. 

Actually, it wasn't Hikari that he was now thinking about. It was himself. Or, rather, his other self. In that alternate universe, the girl named Yagami Hikari had been left to die. Although neither she nor her digimon had been found or reborn, her family and friends had been forced to admit that she was most likely dead. 

This world's Taichi didn't want to even think about what his counterpart had suffered through. The pain of loosing a sibling, he thought, must be one of the hardest things to ever suffer. He himself had felt slight inklings of this pain whenever Hikari had been injured or lost. He knew that Yamato had felt a loss almost as great as a death when he and Takeru had been separated during their parents divorce. 

There was a soft tap at the door and he turned to see his sister enter, cutting off his thoughts for the moment. 

"Taichi, are you okay?" Hikari questioned. She set down her backpack, and opened it to allow Tailmon to escape. 

He smiled a little too forcibly and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I'm fine, Hikari, why do you ask?" he replied nervously. 

Tailmon twitched her ears and stretched after the cramped confines of the backpack had been eliminated. "You sure don't look fine," she commented off-hand. 

Taichi turned back to the window and avoided the cat's scrutiny. "Why would you think that?" 

Hikari stepped forward and stood beside her brother. "Taichi, I told you before, you don't have to be worried about me," she reminded him, smiling kindly. She had known him her whole life; she was smart enough to see that something was troubling him. 

Taichi sighed, his shoulders slumping. He should have known better than to try to hide this from Hikari. "I know," he answered with a slight air of defeat. 

On impulse, she hugged her brother, wrapping her arms tightly around his and squeezing slightly. "I'll be fine," she told him, and he relaxed slightly, squeezing back. 

Taichi couldn't help but smile. She was so young, and yet so smart. "You always are," he agreed. 

Tailmon yawned loudly. "Are we going?" she questioned, slightly impatient. 

"Going?" the elder sibling repeated. Hikari nodded. 

"I just stopped by to drop off a few books before I left. This bag is so heavy with all of them," she explained. "I have to get back to school to meet the others." 

"Yes, and if we don't hurry we'll be late and they'll leave without us," Tailmon hurried her partner. 

"I know, I know," Hikari assured her. Tailmon climbed back into the bag, and a few moments later they were gone, the door slamming behind them. 

Taichi watched her go, a strange nervous feeling forming in the pit of his stomach. "It's just my nerves," he reminded himself. He turned back to his notebook then, trying to concentrate on his math homework. 

***

Elsewhere… 

_'So, the Digimon Kaiser has been defeated, huh? Well, I must admit I am surprised. Never would have thought they'd have been able to do it. Especially without **my** help._

_'Then again, why would **I** help **them**?'_

The dark figure strolled to the window that peered over the vast digital desert and stared over the territory that had once belonged to the Digimon Kaiser. Now, it was hers to command. 

Not that a digital desert was great territory, she admitted. 

A small figure behind her was eyeing her with some trepidation. "What do you plan to do now?" 

"I'll get right to work, of course," the newest master – mistress, actually -  of the Digiworld declared. "The Kaiser's base was not destroyed. It will be a simple matter to reactivate the dark towers and create new rings. Of course, I'll have to move the equipment out of there before I can get to work. It will be too easy for them to find me again if I stay there. Besides, that place was ugly." 

"Agreed." 

"Not that I really think they'd ever have a chance of finding me, let alone defeating me."

***

The computer room… 

"No, Daisuke, there's really no need to worry. Now that we know exactly how Hikari was transported to another reality, there's no risk of it happening again," Koushiro assured the boy. 

"Right. As long as these numbers don't change, we'll be fine." Miyako pointed a finger at the digital gate, careful not to touch the monitor and smudge the screen. 

"Isn't there a risk that the coordinates could be changed accidentally?" Iori questioned. His quiet voice some how managed to be heard over the sound of the digimon eagerly devouring the snacks behind him. 

Koushiro shrugged slightly. "Probably," he admitted. "But as long as you make sure the coordinates are set before you jump through the gate, there shouldn't be a problem." 

"I'm still wondering who brought Hikari to that universe in the first place," Daisuke frowned in thought. 

"I don't think it was an accident either," Takeru agreed. "Someone wanted her there. The question is, who?" 

"Speaking of Hikari, where is she?" Koushiro wondered. 

There was a noise in the hall and a moment later Hikari entered. "Sorry I'm late," she apologized, looking a bit frazzled. "I had to run home for a bit." 

"How's your brother?" Koushiro questioned. 

She frowned in response as she released her digimon. "Doing okay, I guess," she replied with a sigh. "I think he's still worried about me." 

"Enough talk, let's get going," Daisuke interrupted, bored with the chatter and eager to start _doing_ things. "We're late already." 

A few moments later, the light flooded the computer room, and Koushiro was left alone in the room. 

***

Elsewhere… 

"Don't worry, we'll knock down all these control spires," Miyako stated. She turned to her digimon. "Let's do it, Hawkmon! Digimental Up!" 

"My pleasure," Hawkmon agreed before he evolved. "Hawkmon armor evolve! Shurimon - bursting with purity!"

"Don't leave us behind!" Daisuke agreed. "V-mon! Digimental Up!"

"Let's knock 'em down!" V-mon shouted. "V-mon armor evolve! Fladramon - burning with courage!"

A few moments later, two or three control spires had fallen. Daisuke and Miyako cheered happily and danced in joy. 

"We can't let them do all the work, can we?" Armadimon asked hopefully. 

Iori nodded his agreement. "Digimental up!" 

"Armadimon armor evolve! Digmon - the wisdom of steel!" A few more useless dark towers had landed beside the ones Daisuke and Miyako had felled.

"Takeru?" Patamon questioned hopefully. 

Takeru didn't answer for a few moments. He looked at his partner and then out at the sea of control spires. He shrugged slightly. "Digimental up," he stated with less enthusiasm than his teammates. 

"Patamon armor evolve! Pegasmon - the hope that gallops across the heavens!"

Pegasmon flew through the air and joined in the fun. Takeru sat down with a sigh on the ground. He was unaware of the red eyes behind him, watching his every move. 

***

"Already? Knocking down my towers?" the dark figure demanded. She fumed silently. "Unacceptable." 

"I don't know," the smaller figure admitted. "They seem to have quite a head start. And the spies in the Real World suspect Ichijouji may soon join them." 

"_Ichijouji_?" she half shrieked. "Make certain that does not happen." 

***

Elsewhere… 

"You're late," Ken observed. Daisuke let out a visible groan. 

"_See_?" he demanded of his team. "I _told_ you we were going to be late!" 

The others could only stare with some embarrassment. 

"It's no big deal," Wormmon assured, standing beside his partner. "We've already managed to knock down a few towers." He gestured towards the valley behind them. It was littered with at least fifty of the fallen black obelisks. 

Daisuke and V-mon could only stare in surprise. "You knocked all those down yourself?" the blue digimon questioned. 

Wormmon _'_shrugged_'_ (as best he could) nonchalantly. "Yeah," he admitted. 

"I got out of class early this afternoon," Ken explained. "I thought we'd come here and work off a few things." 

Later… 

"Well, we sure knocked down a lot of towers today," Daisuke grinned, proud of himself and his team. 

"Yeah, we should go out and celebrate," Miyako agreed readily. 

"I suggest a healthy dinner to rejuvenate," Hawkmon declared. 

"Healthy dinner?" V-mon stared. "No way, dude, we have to have ice cream!" 

This brought a cheer from the rest of the digimon. "Ice cream!" Patamon, Armadimon, Tailmon and Wormmon agreed. 

"There isn't time for ice cream," Takeru noted. He looked at his watch. "We'll be late for dinner." 

"You're right," Iori agreed, seeing the time. "We'll have to have ice cream another time." 

"Yeah, how about tomorrow? It's Saturday," Daisuke suggested. "We'll go out for some ice cream before we knock down some more towers!" 

Takeru, Hikari, and Iori nodded in agreement. Miyako was a bit more enthusiastic. 

"Yeah!" she agreed. "Ice cream will totally motivate us to knock down more of those ugly things." 

"How about it Ken?" Daisuke questioned. The others became quiet. "Wanna join us?" 

The indigo-haired boy looked at Wormmon for a moment. There was a long moment of silence. "I don't know," he hesitated. 

"C'mon Ken!" Miyako pleaded. "You'll love it." 

The others stared at him, eagerness pasted over their faces. "I guess I could come," he agreed softly. 

"Yeah!" Daisuke and Miyako cheered simultaneously. Wormmon looked happy because of the food involved. 

***

"Mom, Dad? I'm home!" Hikari called as she entered the apartment and removed her shoes. "Taichi?" 

The door to the bedroom opened and her brother stuck his head out. "Mom and Dad are out to dinner tonight," he explained. "You get to cook."   
"Me? Why me?" his sister demanded as she released her digimon. 

"Because the only thing I can make is omelets," Taichi reminded her. "And I don't think you want that for dinner." 

"The only thing _I_ can make is ramen noodles," Hikari shot back. "And microwave soup." 

Taichi sighed. "I guess we're ordering out then, huh?" 

***

The next day… 

Miyako ran. She gobbled down her breakfast and hurried to the place they had agreed to meet. "I can't wait for the ice cream!" she cheered as she hurried.

"Miyako," Poromon's voice was muffled from inside her bag. "Do you think you could slow down? I'm feeling a bit sick."   
"Ech." Miyako opened her bag. "Don't throw up in there, Poromon. It's very hard to get the smell out." 

"I've got a bit of motion sickness," the little bird squeaked in response. 

"I'll slow down," Miyako decided immediately. She walked the rest of the way with the bag in her arms. 

"Hey! Miyako!" Daisuke waved to her from the table. Takeru, Iori, and Hikari were already seated. "I would have thought you'd be the first one here." 

"I would have been, but I had to walk instead of run," Miyako explained. She gestured to her bag. "Poromon was getting a bit sick." 

"I guess everyone's here except Ken," Hikari noted. "Should we order or should we wait?" 

"Let's give him a couple minutes," Takeru advised. "He does have to come all the way from Tamachi, remember." 

***

Standard notes: This is the sequel to my story "A Stranger Digiworld." If you haven't read that yet, it's advisable to do so. This one _might_ stand on its own, but it probably won't. Read that one first. It's at:

 http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=326235 

Who is the dark lady that's taken over the digital world? Here's a hint: whenever you see her (or hear her, since she's not _"seen"_ yet), you're in the Alternate world visited in "A Stranger Digiworld." The story line with Takeru being sort of out of it? That's in that universe, too. 

BEWARE: It may be confusing when I switch between universes and digital worlds and all that. Sometimes that's intentional, so if you're confused, just keep reading. It will all make sense eventually. 

Remember: I own none of the characters. Only the plot. All you'll get from suing me is my stuffed cow, and trust me, you don't _want_ her. 


	2. Part Two: Red Eyes and Ice Cream Fights

Evil's New Claim Gateway Normal Gateway 2 6 2001-11-07T03:43:00Z 2001-11-07T03:50:00Z 4 2117 12069 100 24 14821 9.2720 Evil's New Claim 

Part Two: Red Eyes and Ice Cream Fights 

***

Remember: Only the plot is mine. All mine. Everything else? Belongs to the suits at Toei, Saban, Fox Kids, etc. They won't sell it to me for the fifty three cents I found under my pillow from the tooth fairy when I was seven. Can you believe it? They drive a hard bargain. On with the story. 

***

Ichijouji Ken was no dummy. Not by a long shot. And he was absolutely certain that someone was following him. Positive. 

At first he had thought it to be paranoia. Maybe he was going insane. He was pretty insane anyway, maybe this was proof. Surely he was imagining it when he saw the glowing red eyes peer out at him from his balcony in the middle of the night. A leftover from his nightmares. 

It was only his imagination, he convinced himself, when he saw the strange red eyes peering from one of the lockers in the hall at school, or from outside the classroom. He was truly loosing it. Being in the digital world for so long probably had weird effects on his mind.

But then Minomon had seen them. The little bug type had been resting on his bed while he worked on his homework. It was a futile effort, he realized. He wasn't able to concentrate on school work. He had been a vicious tyrant and now they wanted him to do calculus? The strange transition must have been taking more of a toll on his mind than he had realized. 

But Minomon saw the red eyes while he was working on the computer. "Ken-chan!" he had squeaked in surprise, and he had turned to see the little digimon staring with fear at the window. Ken had looked towards the window and managed to catch a quick glimpse of the eyes before they had disappeared. After that, he shut the curtains. 

"You saw them too?" Minomon stammered. 

"I've been seeing them all week," he confessed. "I thought I was going insane. But I guess I'm not." He paused. "Unless you're going insane with me." 

"We're not crazy," the digimon insisted. "There's someone – or something – watching us." 

Ken considered his options. He considered calling the police, but had quickly ruled that out. Most likely this had something to do with digimon, he was certain. But exactly how - he was unsure. His only collaborative witness was Minomon. He certainly couldn't have the police talk to a digimon, so therefore they would think he was insane. 

He couldn't go to his parents. They were still so shaken up about his disappearance that any slight danger to his health would worry them both so much. Especially his mother. He really didn't want them to go through that. 

Osamu, his brother, was an option, but, he decided, only if all else failed. There was no reason to involve Osamu in digimon. He didn't need to know quite yet. If nothing else, Ken was convinced that his family would not suffer any further for his mistakes. That meant keeping them in the dark about digimon. About Minomon. As much as he'd wanted to share his new friend with Osamu and his parents, he'd remained silent. 

There was really only one option. Ken would have to contact himself. 

Well, not himself, really. His self that had visited him from another world. If it hadn't been for _that _ version of himself, he would still be an insane, dark tyrant in the digital world. He was extremely grateful to that version of himself. 

Naturally, Ken found it easiest to speak with himself. They had many shared experiences. His other self had once been the same insane dark tyrant that he was. The other Ken would certainly know if he was going even more insane or if he was really in danger. 

And so, he made up his mind. He would contact himself. 

***

Elsewhere… 

Wormmon tapped his partner softly on the head. "Ken-chan?" he whispered. The boy's response was to roll over and groan. It was still early morning, and it was _Saturday_ morning. There was no reason for him to be up. "Ken-chan?" Wormmon repeated. "You said we would have ice cream with the others this morning." 

With a groan, Ken finally sat up. "I was having the weirdest dream," he mumbled in explanation to the curious digimon. He climbed down from his bed and stretched. 

"What about?" Wormmon questioned. 

"Meeting myself," he replied. "I've been having them for the past week. Ever since I did meet myself. It was very strange." 

The digimon was still perched on his bed. He remained silent for a few moments as his partner dressed. "Most people don't get to meet themselves, I suppose," he admitted. 

Ken couldn't help but smile. "No, that's true, they don't." He finished buttoning the shirt he'd chosen to wear that day. "Ready for ice cream?" 

"Yeah!" Wormmon cheered in response. 

Suddenly, there was a strange beeping noise from somewhere on his desk. "What - ?" he wondered. Quickly, he located his d-terminal. "E-mail?" 

"Probably Daisuke wanting us to hurry," Wormmon stated as he climbed down the side of his bed. 

"No, it's from me," his partner replied. "The other me. He thinks he's being watched." 

"Being watched?" 

"Yes," Ken replied. "By these – red glowing eyes." He frowned in his digimon's direction. "That doesn't sound good." 

"Do you want to go back there?" Wormmon queried. 

The boy frowned even more deeply. "I'm not sure. It's pretty dangerous to go alone." 

"We could bring the others." 

He shook his head. "No, there's no reason to involve them. I think I'll just send an email back. No need to miss the ice cream." He smiled at his digimon. Wormmon seemed to cheer at the prospect of the frozen desert, and thoughts of the other Ken's problems in the other world vanished from their minds. 

"We'd better hurry," the digimon advised. A few moments later, they were on their way. 

***

"About time!" Daisuke half-scolded his friend. "You're late." 

"Only by about five minutes," Hikari assured him. 

"Sorry," Ken apologized in response. "I got an e-mail this morning and needed to answer it before I left." 

"An e-mail?" Miyako questioned.

He nodded, shrugging slightly. "Nothing important." 

"Let's order already!" Chibimon interrupted from his partner's lap. "I'm hungry!" 

A few minutes later, everyone was happily gulping down their ice cream. All was peaceful until Daisuke attempted to steal the cherry from Miyako's sundae. It wasn't _really_ a big issue. Daisuke had one of his own, and Miyako didn't really _like_ cherries. But she got mad nonetheless, and responded by hurling the cherry at his face. 

Daisuke immediately forgot about wanting to _eat_ the cherries, and instead threw his own back at her. 

Miyako caught the cherry before it could hit her and threw it back. It missed her opponent and hit Takeru, who was sitting next to Daisuke, in the nose. 

There was an awkward silence then. Takeru rubbed his nose thoughtfully, deciding how to respond. Miyako gulped nervously. Daisuke laughed forcefully. Takeru heaved the cherry back at Miyako. 

Miyako ducked and the cherry hit Hikari. It rolled through her hair and landed in her ice cream. 

"Ew!" she commented, and hurled the cherry back at Takeru. It landed in Iori's ice cream. Iori rolled his eyes slightly and then tossed it at Hikari, somewhat half-heartedly. It hit Miyako. 

A few moments later, everyone except Ken and Iori had taken their own cherry and several globs of ice cream and begun throwing them at whomever they could hit. 

For a few minutes, Ken and Iori both ate their ice creams silently while the others fought. Iori calmly ignored the food fight. Ken observed it with some caution. He didn't want to get caught up in it, yet he thought it somewhat fascinating. 

By the laws of probability, one cannot sit anywhere near a food fight without getting some sort of food heaved at them. Iori had avoided involvement after the cherry incident, but a few drops of ice cream inevitably flew in his direction. He ignored all but the largest. Upamon gulped a few that flew past him, eager for more food. 

Ken somehow had managed to not get any cherries _or_ ice cream thrown at him. He stared with some amount of fear at the situation. If one of them accidentally hit _him_, was he supposed to retaliate? Was he supposed to sit there and take it? What was he supposed to do? Get mad? 

Meanwhile, Miyako was busy trying to drop a significant bit of her ice cream down the back of Daisuke's shirt. Daisuke was trying to shove a cherry up Takeru's nose. Takeru was heaving chocolate chips and sprinkles from his own sundae at Hikari. Hikari was tossing them back. A few sprinkles flew towards Ken, but no one seemed to notice, including Ken himself. 

He was just staring to become entranced in watching this when Miyako heaved some ice cream. 

Looking back later, he realized he could easily have ducked or avoided the ice cream. It wasn't aimed for him, in fact, even Miyako was uncertain of whom it was aimed for (having had ice cream dripping into her eyes at the time), and it was thrown rather weakly, but Ken didn't dodge. 

And so it was that a mass of chocolate-vanilla swirl ice cream smacked right into his face. 

For a few seconds the fight went on. Then Hikari gasped. Miyako turned to see what she was gasping at, wiping the ice cream from her own face. Daisuke turned to see what Miyako was looking at. Takeru, having no one left to fight, turned as well. Iori looked up from his own sundae to see why it had suddenly gotten so quiet. 

There was an extremely awkward silence that persisted for the next few moments. Some ice cream dripped down Ken's face. He reached up with his hand and wiped some of it from his eyes, enabling him to see. 

With eyes that reminded everyone just who they were dealing with, he scanned the table. Hikari nervously hid the spoon she had been using to fling the sprinkles. Daisuke promptly swallowed the cherry he'd been using as a weapon. Takeru stared blankly. Iori scooped another spoonful of ice cream with out taking his eyes off the former Kaiser. 

Miyako's eyes were wide and she gulped. "Um – Ken – I – um," she began, stammering. "I, uh, didn't mean to, um, throw it," she apologized weakly. "That is – I did, but I didn't mean to – uh - at you." 

There was silence once more. Miyako realized that she wasn't going to astonish anyone with her words, and so she merely stared. Then, the most amazing thing occurred. 

Ken's lips curled up into a smile. He licked some of the ice cream off his nose. And he laughed. 

Not the evil, sadistic, creepy, crazy, scary laugh they had all heard before. 

But a genuine happy laugh one normally has when they enjoy themselves. That was even more shocking to the others at the table than the ice cream hitting him in the face at all. 

Daisuke couldn't help laughing as well. Ken _did_ look kind of silly, with ice cream dripping into his nose and laughing like that. Not that _he_ looked any better, with sprinkles stuck in his hair and ice cream smeared on his own face. He laughed heartily, and then everyone joined in.

***

_Elsewhere…_

"The spies have been watching him," a small figure reported. "So far they haven't seen him interact with the others. One boy approached him, but he seemed reluctant." 

The taller figure hidden by darkness snorted in contempt. "Daisuke _would_ do something that stupid," she commented. "Are you positive Ichijouji will _not_ join up?" 

The figure shook its head. "No. I can't be sure. All we can do is watch him and hope for the best." 

Another snort of contempt was the creature's response. "We do not hope for the best here. You should know that. If we want to assure our success and his lack of involvement, we must _do_ something." 

A nod was the reply. "Of course." 

"Have him brought back here," she ordered. "He cannot join the Chosen if the Chosen cannot find him." 

"As you wish." 

***

Ken frowned slightly as he rubbed his forehead again. He'd washed it in the bathroom at the ice cream shop, but it was still sticky. At least he hadn't gotten anything stuck in his hair. Daisuke would probably be pulling out sprinkles for the next month. 

It was pretty quiet in the digital world. More control spires fell under the combined strength of the digimon. The newly evolved Aquilamon was able to join XV-mon, Stingmon, and Angemon as well as Nefertimon and Digmon. Miyako was more and more pleased with her digimon as time went on. 

They'd been working hard all day and barely noticed the sun was beginning to set. By the time anyone _did_ notice, it was near dark. 

"Wow, I can't believe it's dark already. It seems like we just got here," Ken observed. 

"Time flies when you're having fun," Daisuke noted cheerfully. 

"Or doing hard work," Hikari corrected. 

"Hey, you weren't doing any work. We were!" Tailmon corrected her partner. Hikari turned to see that the little feline was looking quite tired. 

"Well, lets get home and rest," Miyako declared, yawning exaggeratedly and stretching. "Then we can come back tomorrow and do it again." 

"We did make a lot of progress today," Takeru commented. He was already holding Patamon in his arms as he stood looking out at the field of towers they had toppled. His little digimon looked as exhausted as Tailmon did.

"It was a good day's work," Iori agreed. "But we'd better get home now." He turned towards the nearest television set, ready to return to the real world. 

***

_Elsewhere…_

Ken turned to re-enter his apartment building after the refreshing walk. Minomon was tucked safely in his arms, and they were both eager to get back inside where it was safe. 

"Ken!" Minomon squeaked suddenly, despite his promise to stay quiet in public. "I see them again!" 

His partner looked around and quickly noticed what he was talking about. The strange red eyes were staring at them from a nearby alleyway. Ken pretended to ignore them, walking back towards his building. 

'_I don't think so,_' a voice hissed. A few moments later, he felt something hit him, hard, and he blacked out.

***

Standard notes: This is the sequel to my story "A Stranger Digiworld." If you haven't read that yet, it's advisable to do so. This one _might_ stand on its own, but it probably won't. Read that one first. It's at:

 http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=326235 

Boy, parts of this were really, really cliché and used and old. Try to forgive me for my lapse of judgment, won't you? It gets more exciting later. Thanks for reading this far, tune in again soon to see what will happen to Ken.

In case you were wondering, I screwed up the timeline of 02 a bit with these stories, so we'll just say that this one takes place sometime after all the 02 kids have achieved adult (champion)evolutions, but before Daisuke and Ken have Jogressed. And in the alternate world, champion level hasn't been reached by any of them, yet. 

Thanks for reading!


	3. Part Three: Someone's Missing Now

Evil's New Claim

Part Three: Someone's Missing Now

***

Remember- Only the _plot_ is mine. _Not_ the characters. 

***

It was dark, but somehow familiar. That was the first thing Ken Ichijouji was aware of. He opened his eyes and squinted through the darkness, but he couldn't see a thing. Not even his digimon. 

"Ken? You okay?" Wormmon questioned from somewhere not too far away. 

"I think so," he replied. "I can't see." 

'_Wormmon_?' he thought. _'We must be in the digital world if he's Wormmon again. But **how **did I get here?"_

"It's pretty dark in here," Wormmon agreed. "I can't see much either." 

"What _can_ you see?"

There was a pause during which he assumed his partner was looking around him. "We appear to be in some sort of dungeon," the digimon replied after a moment. "I can see iron bars, stone floors." 

"Dungeon?" Ken repeated blankly. "How did we get here?" He sat up and tried to look around, but apparently Wormmon's eyes were better than his because he couldn't see a thing. 

"I don't know," Wormmon admitted. 

Ken heard a clicking noise along the ground and felt something at his arm. He was able to peer through the darkness and make out the dark outline that was most likely his digimon. "I'll bet I know," he decided. "Those red eyes that were watching us. They probably had something to do with this."   
Before Wormmon could reply, a laugh filtered through the dark dungeon. A bright light suddenly illuminated his tiny cell. "Who's there?" he demanded. 

***

"Hey Miyako," Daisuke began as he entered the computer lab. "I was wondering what you would think about letting Ken join our team." 

"Haven't we had this conversation already, Daisuke?" Miyako wondered, turning away from the computer. "I've told you before, I'm not sure." She sighed again and peered at the floor. "I just don't know. I don't think we should give him a chance just yet."

Daisuke sighed as he left the computer lab, Chibimon nestled in his arms. "I think Ken could really help us out if we could just give him a chance," he confided to his partner. "How come no one seems to agree with me?" 

Chibimon shrugged. "Maybe they don't think you've given it enough thought?" 

He sighed again. "Maybe. I know!" His face lit up again. "Let's go talk to him." Before Chibimon could agree or disagree, he was off and running. 

***

"Look, I don't know _what _you want from me, but I'm certainly not going to help you," Ken snapped at the dark figure on the opposite side of the room. He struggled with the chains that bound him to the wall. 

"I don't need _your_ help, you worthless insect. You're here because I _don't_ need you helping those brats." The figure waved its arms in an all-encompassing gesture. Ken didn't need ask who she was referring to. 

"So you think I would be able to defeat you, then?" 

"Not on your own, of course," she replied, turning away then. "But if you were to join with them…" 

He didn't reply. He didn't really have anything _to_ say to that. "You are afraid," he stated. "You're afraid of me, and that's why you keep me here, isn't it?" 

"I'm afraid of no one," the voice snapped back. "But I am smart enough to know my limits." 

"Just who are you, anyway?" 

She laughed then, and the laughter echoed through the room. "Oh, little boy, if you can't figure _that_ much out then maybe you're not as smart as you thought you were, are you?" 

Then she was gone, leaving him alone in the dark dungeon once more. 

***

Daisuke peered up and down the beach. "I could have sworn he would be here!"

"What now?" Chibimon questioned. 

Daisuke stared out at the ocean. "I guess we head home. It's late, I'll probably get in trouble if I stay out any later." He turned back towards home, but had only walked a few feet when he ran into someone he knew.

"Takeru? What are you doing here?" 

The tall, blond boy shrugged aimlessly, not even meeting the other's eyes. "We were following you, Daisuke," Patamon spoke up from his perch on Takeru's hat. 

"Following me? Why?" 

"We wanted to see if Ken would listen to you," Patamon admitted. "But he's not here." 

Daisuke sighed. "No, he's not," he admitted. "I guess I'll have to come back and try again." He peered curiously into the orange digimon's blue eyes. "What do you think? Am I wasting my time?" 

"I don't know," Patamon replied. Takeru turned, walking beside Daisuke as they headed back to Odaiba. "Maybe if you work on it hard enough you'll make progress," he suggested. 

"Yeah, if I could ever find him to talk to him I might be able to convince him," Daisuke agreed. "But I can't do any sort of convincing if I can't find him!" He sighed in frustration. 

Chibimon was quick to pick up on this. "It's okay, Daisuke," he assured his partner. "When you _do_ see him, you'll be able to convince him, I'm sure." 

"You have to convince the other members of the team, too," Patamon reminded him, and Daisuke sighed. 

"Yeah, good luck doing that," he agreed, grumbling slightly. "Miyako just keeps saying she's not sure about it, and Iori is dead set against it. He won't even talk about it." He sighed. "I wonder if Hikari would be on my side," he wondered, looking up at the stars while they walked. 

Takeru made a grunting noise, but didn't speak. Patamon shrugged aimlessly, but didn't reply either. Daisuke understood. Hikari was a sensitive subject with the Chosen now. Some of them were more determined to accomplish their mission, but for most of them, they were still wandering around in grief and confusion. Daisuke didn't blame them. It had only been a few short months since her disappearance. 

Even though Ken was no longer the Digimon Kaiser, he _had_ been responsible – not only for millions of digimon being tortured, but also for Hikari's disappearance. Daisuke couldn't blame them for still being angry, but he truly believed there was a greater evil out there and that Ken _had_ changed. Unfortunately, he hadn't yet been able to persuade the others to his way of thinking. Needless to say, he hadn't even approached Taichi with the idea. 

***

_Elsewhere…_

Ken peered nervously at his D-terminal for the fourth time in the last half-hour as he tried to make his way through his homework. Wormmon, sensing the tension, spoke up. 

"Still no word from him, Ken-chan?" 

He sighed. "No. Nothing. I'm worried." 

"Maybe we should say something to the others," the little digimon suggested. 

"Maybe," he admitted. "I don't know." 

"We can't just sit here. Maybe something has happened to him," Wormmon reminded him. 

Ken nodded. "You're right," he agreed. "We should go." 

"Now?" 

He sighed in agreement. "Maybe not now – maybe it should wait until the weekend." 

"Do you think it can wait that long?" Wormmon's voice was a bit worried. 

"I don't know," Ken admitted. "I don't think it can. Maybe he's in serious trouble." 

"Maybe you _should_ get the others involved." 

"Maybe. I'll talk with them tomorrow." 

***

Miyako blinked. "Let me get this straight. You exchanged email addresses with - yourself?" 

Ken nodded. "A few days ago I received an email from – myself. It seems he was being followed by these strange red eyes." 

Takeru frowned. "That doesn't sound good," he stated.

"No. I didn't think it was very important at the time, but I haven't heard from – him – in a few days. It makes me think the worst has happened." 

"Well then we should go see what's happening!" Daisuke declared. 

"Daisuke, it's not that easy!" Hikari reminded him. "There's another _you_ in that world, too, remember?" 

"Oh yeah." Daisuke frowned.

"And besides that," Miyako spoke up. "The situation in that world is – delicate, from what we've seen, right?" She looked to Hikari for confirmation. "The Chosen haven't learned to work with Ken yet, and they're still coping with loss. Hikari was lost in that world, remember? We can't just barge in and say 'Hi, we're here to fix everything.'"

Takeru agreed. "But we can't just sit here if someone's in danger, either," he noted. 

"Maybe we could go in undercover?" Daisuke suggested. 

"How?" Miyako questioned. "Who are you going to hide as? Yourself?" 

"He might have a point," Takeru pointed out, an idea dawning on his face. "If we could switch places with our doubles, then we wouldn't have to worry about being missed here or being seen there." 

"Do you think they would agree to that?" Hikari wondered. 

"There's only one way to find out," Iori spoke up for the first time. "We'll have to e-mail them and ask. Of course, some of them might not agree to help Ken." He looked hesitantly at the dark-haired boy.

"We'll just have to ask which ones will, then," Daisuke decided, determinedly. 

"Okay," Miyako agreed. "We'll send e-mails. Just give me a few seconds to fix the program and we'll start." 

***

_Elsewhere…_

Daisuke stared at the gigantic digimon in front of him. It looked like a giant red beetle. "What the heck is that?" he shouted. 

"Search me," his partner responded. "He looks kind of dangerous, though." 

"And why is he coming this way so quickly?" Miyako wondered. 

"Duck!" Daisuke shouted, dropping to the ground as the huge creature flew over him. Miyako and Iori dived to the ground at the last minute. Fladramon, Digmon, and Holsmon dodged out of the way.

"What was that for?" Miyako shouted at the digimon, who made no reply. 

"I don't understand," Iori stated. "You'd think he'd be happy that we're trying to knock down the towers."

"Well then, why is he attacking us?" 

The huge bug was flying around for another pass. Daisuke flung himself at the ground again, cringing as the gigantic bug flew close.

"Shooting Star," a deep voice called from above. Daisuke watched as the giant bug was flung to the ground. 

"Takeru! Pegasmon!" Miyako shouted, spotting the flying horse and the blond boy atop it. 

"I thought Takeru was staying behind today?" Iori questioned.

"That's Kuwagamon!" Pegasmon shouted as he flew around for another attack. "He's a virus insect digimon. Adult level. It would be a good idea to get out of his way!" 

"We've determined that, thanks," Daisuke replied. 

"Now's a good time to _run_!" Miyako yelled before anyone could say anything else. Daisuke and Iori turned and saw the bug rising from its spot in the sand. All three children ran quickly, and were just barely able to escape. Miyako dived and caught a glimpse of something on the Kuwagamon. 

_'A dark ring?" _she wondered. _'But I thought those were all destroyed?'_

"Miyako, get out of there!" Iori called. Miyako snapped out of her daydreaming state and moved out of the way just as Pegasmon fired another Shooting Star attack and knocked the bug to the ground again. 

Angered, Kuwagamon growled and rose to the air again as Pegasmon flew around. 

"Oh, no you don't," Holsmon declared. "Red Sun!" A red-colored laser shot from his eyes, hitting the giant insect in his vulnerable, unarmored stomach. He then took to the air, flying quickly away from the digimon as it lunged in response. 

"Fire Rocket!" Fladramon shouted, firing his own attack into the air and giving Holsmon time to retreat. The more vulnerable Digmon stuck to the ground and tried to get Iori, Miyako, and Daisuke to safety. 

"Holsmon, shoot for the dark ring!" Miyako shouted. 

"Dark ring?" Daisuke repeated. "Those were all destroyed."   
"I thought so too," she agreed. "But he's got one! See it, Holsmon?" 

"I see it!" Pegasmon declared. "Shooting Star!" The attack bounced off the hard shell of the insect. "I – can't get it!" he shouted. 

"I've got it! Red Sun!" Holsmon shouted. The laser-like attack cracked the dark ring, which dissolved into data. 

The Kuwagamon grumbled dazedly before flying off into the distance. 

"Boy, that was weird," Miyako noted as Holsmon reverted to Hawkmon, who looked tired and dazed but uninjured. 

"I don't understand," Daisuke agreed. "I thought all the dark rings were destroyed when the Kaiser was defeated." 

"Maybe he wasn't really defeated," Iori spoke up. 

"No, that doesn't make any sense," Daisuke disagreed. "Why would they tell us he was defeated and lie about it? What would our counterparts lie to us?" 

"It does make sense that they would tell the truth," Hawkmon agreed. 

"Maybe someone _else_ is using the dark rings now," V-mon suggested.

"Someone else?" Patamon questioned. He rode again on Takeru's hat, having de-evolved as well after the last battle. 

"It's possible," Daisuke agreed thoughtfully. 

"But who?" Armadimon wondered. 

"Someone else who wanted to take over the Digiworld," Iori answered his partner's question. "But I don't have any idea who that could be." 

"I don't either," Miyako sighed. Suddenly, there was a beeping sound. "Email?" 

***

Standard notes: This is the sequel to my story "A Stranger Digiworld." If you haven't read that yet, it's advisable to do so. This one _might_ stand on its own, but it probably won't. Read that one first. It's at:

 http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=326235

Yea! I'm actually getting some plot development for once! Yippee! Well, I hope I haven't lost you all due to extreme boredom. In the next installment, our heroes meet our heroes, and it's a weird scene (to say the least). Even more complicated to write. 

The one thing I actually like about this story is that I actually focus on Takeru for once! It's not that I don't like him, it's just I can't write him at all (You'll notice this if you read any of my other stories – he's like, non-existent). But I think I might be grasping his character in this. Expect a bit more exploration of the changes I've made to him since Hikari's disappearance. 

Thanks for reading, reviewing, and not suing! ^_^


	4. Part Four: Dimension Switch!

Evils New Claim…

Part Four: Dimension Switch!

***

Standard Disclaimer Thingy: Plot – mine. Characters – belong to the guys in office buildings in Japan. Don't sue me. Thanks. 

***

"Blast it!" she shouted, slamming a fist into the computer console. "They've discovered the ring." 

"They wouldn't have if that Kuwagamon hadn't attacked," another voice spoke up. 

"It was well hidden. If that girl hadn't been lucky enough to find herself underneath him they might never have noticed. Now they've figured it out and that means it's almost inevitable that they discover me." 

"You can't remain hidden if you want to take over the Digiworld," Ken spoke up in a slightly tired voice. "They would have found out you existed eventually."  

"Shut up," she snapped. "If I want your opinion, I'll ask for it. And at the moment, I don't!" 

Normally, he might have offered a snappy comeback to that remark, but he was unable to think of one at the moment, so he remained silent. Just sighed weakly. 

_'Great,'_ he thought sarcastically, having since given up his attempt to free himself from the chains that bound him. _'I come back from a months-long disappearance and what happens? I disappear again. This isn't going to go over too well with my family.'_

***

Daisuke stared at the email. "It's – from me?" he realized blankly. 

"I've got one, too," Miyako noted. 

"So do I," Iori stated, peering at his own D-terminal. "What does this mean?" 

"They need our help," Miyako observed, reading the email. 

"This explains why I couldn't find Ken," Daisuke observed. "He's missing!" 

"You looked for him?" she asked. 

"I just wanted to talk to him," he defended. "But I couldn't find him." 

"You shouldn't have done that!" Miyako shouted.

"Why not?" 

"Because we haven't agreed with your idea yet!" she shrieked in response. "Who gives you authority to just go and talk to him about joining us if _we_ don't want him to?" 

"I just wanted to talk!" Daisuke insisted, shouting back. "Do I have to ask your permission to _talk_ to someone?"

Iori sighed, reading over his own email. Whoever had sent him the email appeared to be very much like himself. The message was written very much in his own style, short, but polite. 

"Are you going to agree to go to the other world, Iori?" Armadimon questioned, looking over his shoulder at the email. Iori sat down in the sand to think. Daisuke and Miyako continued arguing behind them, but neither paid any notice. 

"I don't know," the young boy confessed. "I don't agree with what Ken's done, but does that mean he shouldn't be helped if he's in danger? I don't think so. But I wonder where he is?" 

"Maybe with the same person who is using the rings now," his partner suggested. 

"It's possible," Patamon spoke up. Takeru, with his digimon riding on his ever-present hat, stood before him. The tall blond boy sat down on the sand. "That person would have a reason to kidnap Ken." 

"Are you going to go to the other world, Takeru?" Iori always attempted to address the other boy directly, even if it was always Patamon who answered the questions. 

Takeru only shrugged. "We're not sure yet," Patamon replied with a slightly exasperated sigh. 

Iori thought for a moment about what it must be like to be Patamon. Since Hikari's disappearance and presumed death several months ago, Takeru had slipped into something of a depression. He continued to assist in the Digiworld, but rarely spoke except to activate his Digimental. He didn't even argue with Daisuke anymore, something he'd begun to get into the habit of before Hikari's disappearance. Patamon did almost all the talking now.

Iori and Miyako hadn't gotten to know Hikari very much. Daisuke and Takeru had both known her from school, and Takeru from previous Digiworld adventures, but, as she'd been too sick and weak to come to the Digiworld very much with the younger children, neither Iori nor Miyako had seen her more than a few times. Even Daisuke didn't know her very well, because she'd been absent from school so often due to her illness. Takeru was really the only one who was very close to her. Iori couldn't imagine what it was like to lose someone that close. Miyako was one of his closest friends. He tried to think what it would be like if Miyako had disappeared. Or Armadimon. He shuddered at the thought. 

"You all right, Iori?" Armadimon questioned. Iori nodded. 

Miyako and Daisuke had paused in their arguments and were now standing back to back, apparently quite angry at each other. Iori knew that wasn't the case. He knew that deep inside, both cared for each other quite deeply, and that this was their way of expressing it. He didn't understand it any more than Daisuke had understood Yamato and Taichi fighting as a way of expressing their own friendship, but he had learned to accept it. 

"So what are we going to do?" Iori spoke up now that the argument had ended. "Are we going to go to the other world and help Ken?" 

"I'm going," Daisuke declared boldly. "Maybe I can even help them out there." 

Miyako snorted in disbelief, but didn't comment on the slightly ego-inflating statement. "I'll go, too," she decided. "I could use a bit of a vacation from this place." She waved her hand as if to encompass not only the Digiworld, but her whole reality. 

"It won't be just for a vacation," Hawkmon reminded her. "You'll have to take the place of the Miyako in that world. She's probably got problems just as difficult as yours." 

Miyako shrugged. "As long as she's not in classes that are about twelve grades above me I'll be fine," she decided. 

"What about you, Iori?" Armadimon wondered. "Will you go?" 

"I suppose," he decided. "But someone will have to stay here. And someone there. Our world will be very different from theirs, and we'll need someone to tell them the differences. And we'll need someone to show us around theirs." 

"We'll volunteer for that," Patamon decided. Takeru nodded in agreement, a look of grim determination on his face. The other three frowned. 

"Are you sure, Takeru?" Iori questioned. 

The blond boy nodded. "We're sure," Patamon spoke up. 

"Okay then," Daisuke decided. "Let's send the e-mails back!" 

***

Miyako turned when the computer at the desk let out a beep. "Oh! There's a response!" she declared. Hurriedly, she opened the e-mail and began to read. The others crowded around. 

"All right!" Daisuke cheered happily. "I'm going to the other world." He frowned slightly. "I wonder if he's just like me?" 

"Let's hope not," Miyako replied dryly. "I couldn't deal with two of you." 

Daisuke just groaned. "Who else is going?" 

"I am," Miyako announced. 

"So am I," Iori read. 

Takeru read over the email. "I guess my counterpart will be tour guide there," he noted, frowning slightly. "I would have liked to have gone to another world." 

"We've got enough work to do here," Patamon reminded his partner from his perch on his hat. He'd flown up there to get a better look at the e-mail. 

"That's true," Takeru agreed. "I hope they're up to it." 

"I'll have to stay, too," Hikari reminded him. "Since I don't have a counterpart in that world, I'd be missed too much here." 

"Hey – what about Ken?" Miyako wondered. Everyone turned to her, including Ken himself. "I mean – won't you be missed, too?" 

Ken frowned. "That's true," he realized. "I'll be able to reassure the parents in that world, but what about mine here?"

Daisuke put a hand on his shoulder. "Tell them you're staying with me a few days," he decided. "They'll probably be glad to know you're in such good hands." 

The other boy looked slightly disturbed by the idea, but had to admit there was no better option. 

***

_In the digital world – the next day…_

Miyako peered around him at the place they'd just landed. "Looks pretty much the same as the Digiworld back home," she observed. 

"I guess the Digiworld is the same everywhere," Takeru noted with a shrug. He had followed along so that he could meet up with the others before leading them back home. 

"Okay, so where are the others?" Iori questioned. He looked at his digivice. "I'm not reading anyone nearby." 

"I'm not either," Daisuke observed. "Maybe we're early?" Suddenly, a few colored bleeps appeared on the screen. "There they are!" 

"Let's go meet up with them!" V-mon declared. A few moments later, the group was running across the desert in the direction of the bleeps. 

Miyako was first to spot them. "I see them!" she shouted as they neared the top of a sand dune. "Whoa," she shuddered. "It's almost like looking in the mirror." 

"Before we go down there, we should find some way of telling ourselves apart," Iori spoke up before anyone could take another step.

"No problem," Miyako decided, removing her helmet and letting the air blow through her hair. "If I'm not wearing this, there won't be a problem."

Takeru removed his hat and tried fruitlessly to straighten his hair. "Okay, Daisuke, you know what to do," he grinned. The red-head grumbled but reluctantly reached up and pulled his prized hand-me-down goggles from his head.

"Happy?" he grumbled. Takeru only grinned an even bigger grin. 

"What about me?" Iori questioned. He had no extra clothing on him to remove, nor hats. 

"I know!" Miyako decided. Before Daisuke could stop her, she had taken the goggles from his hands and put them on Iori's head. 

"Hey!" Daisuke shouted in protest. 

Iori looked with some confusion at the goggles on his head. Then he giggled slightly. Miyako laughed outright, and Takeru joined in. Before long, even Ken was laughing. Eventually, even Daisuke had to join in. The youngest Chosen did look quite silly wearing the goggles that had once belonged to Taichi.

A short time later, the two groups joined together. There was a moment of silence as everyone but Ken blinked and stared, trying to make sure they weren't peering into a mirror.

"Whoa," the Daisuke still wearing his goggles noted.

"This is really weird," his mirror image agreed. 

"I was just gonna say that!" the first realized. 

"Weird," the second breathed, astonished. 

"Hey -," both V-mon partners spoke at once. "We're the same!" Both human partners laughed. 

"Wow, I look pretty good," Miyako grinned. "Though I have to admit, I do look better _without_ the helmet." 

"You're telling me," the other agreed, holding the aforementioned headgear in her arms. 

Hawkmon politely bowed to himself, who bowed back. 

Iori shook hands politely with himself. "Pleased to meet –,"

"Me?" Iori questioned, pushing the goggles out of his eyes. "This is rather strange." 

"It is." 

Armadimon peered closely at his counterpart. "Good to meet a digimon as good looking as myself," he grinned. 

"I'll say," the other agreed with an identical grin. 

Takeru solemnly put out his hand in greeting and studied himself, but neither he nor his partner spoke. Somehow, the boy without the hat was able to tell that something was not quite right, and knew better than to say anything. 

"Hi!" Patamon called cheerfully the head of the boy without the hat. 

"Hello!" the other called back in an equally cheery voice. 

"Okay, so what's the plan?" Daisuke with goggles questioned once everyone had finished greeting themselves. 

"You guys can head back with Takeru," his counterpart explained. "Ken's supposed to be staying with me while we're gone, so don't forget that if anyone asks. He's cleared it with his parents, so there shouldn't be too much trouble." 

"Not much is happening in the Digiworld," Miyako picked up where he'd left off. "We're still working on taking down the towers. I guess if you guys want to work on that, you can. Any specific problems, you can always send an email. Koushiro knows how to alter the program."

"If there's any major difference between the two worlds, I should be able to explain. Of course, you all will have to meet Hikari, and get used to her before school tomorrow. It'll look pretty strange otherwise," Takeru spoke up. There was an awkward silence for a moment as the others took in his words. 

"Meeting Hikari – I never thought about that," Iori confessed. 

"That is going to be weird," Daisuke agreed. 

"Is there anything we need to know?" Ken questioned after a short awkward silence had passed.

"Nothing important," Miyako decided. "I suppose we're at the same stage as you in the Digiworld." She glanced at her counterpart as she spoke. "Although yesterday we did have an encounter with a vicious Kuwagamon that was ring-controlled." 

"They've been reactivated?" Iori questioned, the seriousness of the situation making his appearance look a bit less comical. 

"We've theorized that this world's Ken may be with whoever sent out the rings. The towers are probably reactivated, too," his double explained. 

"Entirely possible," Takeru agreed thoughtfully. 

"I guess that's it, then," Daisuke spoke up. He gestured towards the blond boy standing off to the side. "Patamon can explain everything else you need to know, and of course, Koushiro will help, too."

"We'll keep in touch if anything serious comes up," Patamon added cheerfully.

A few moments later, goodbyes were said, and the second group was gone. Daisuke took his goggles back from Iori, who relinquished them happily.

"Do you guys want to look around here first or should we go back to the real world?" Patamon asked.

***

"Well, the computer room looks the same," Iori noted after the Chosen had disentangled themselves from the pile. 

"Yup," Takeru agreed, straightening his hat. He looked around. "Hikari and Koushiro should be here soon," he noted. 

"Some things never change," Daisuke noted with a sigh, peering at the complicated list of homework written on the board. 

"Homework's probably the same in every world," Miyako sighed as well. 

"Hey Takeru," a voice came from the door. "Have they arrived yet?" 

"Yup, everyone's here, Koushiro," Takeru waved. "Where's Hikari?" 

"She's coming," the red-headed computer whiz replied. "She wanted to stop home first, I think." He turned his attention to the three chosen. "So – you're the ones from the other world?" 

***

Standard notes: This is the sequel to my story "A Stranger Digiworld." If you haven't read that yet, it's advisable to do so. This one _might_ stand on its own, but it probably won't. Read that one first. It's at:

http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=326235

If there's anything here that doesn't make sense to you – (like Osamu being alive in one world, and the skipping getting confusing)- my advice is…READ THE PREQUEL! 

Some of the stuff in here is confusing, I'm trying to make it not. Hopefully it will make more sense now that they've switched. ^_^ 

In the next part, the group in the other world heads out to check on the Digiworld, while the others meet up with Hikari. Will it be a confusing reunion? And, soon, something dramatic happens, causing 'our heroes' to meet up with the Digiworld's new master – er – mistress. Will they be able to save Ken? 


	5. Part Five: Getting Down To Business

***

Evil's New Claim

Part Five: Getting Down To Business

***

Standard Disclaimer Thingy: Plot is ALL MINE! MINE! MINE! Digimon, its characters, and whatnot, unfortunately, are not. If they were, I'd have a whole lot more money.

***

"This is where the base went down, all right," Daisuke noted, peering over the sand. "It looks the same as in our world." 

"All right, so let's get moving," Miyako decided. "We'll split up and search it." 

"Good plan," Patamon spoke up. "You three go together," he gestured with his front paws to Iori, Miyako, and Ken. "Daisuke comes with us." 

Before anyone could reply, a loud sound came from the base, and all five humans and their partners were tossed to the ground. 

***

Hikari took a deep breath and opened the door to the classroom. Trying to be as cheerful as possible, she stepped inside. "Hey guys!" 

Koushiro waved absent-mindedly from his seat at the computer. Takeru smiled warmly. "Hikari-chan!" he greeted. "Glad you could come." 

"Sorry I'm late," she added. "I had to drop a few things at home first." She set down her bag and opened it, releasing Tailmon, who stretched a few times and then looked expectantly at the visitors. 

"Any food today?" 

"The others ate before they left," Takeru informed her. "But we saved some snacks for you." He held out a few candy bars, and, satisfied, Tailmon began to munch them eagerly. 

Hikari smiled politely at the visitors. "I'm Hikari, in case you didn't know," she stated. 

The three – Miyako, Daisuke, and Iori – from the other world nodded politely. They hadn't spoken since she had come in, and Hikari couldn't help feeling as if something was very wrong. 

There was a long moment of silence. Then Daisuke stepped forward. "Hi. You know me, but you don't, I guess. I mean, you don't know _me_. I'm Daisuke. But you knew that, because that much is the same." He stuck out his hand. "Nice to meet you. Again." 

Hikari nodded and shook hands, giggling slightly. "Nice to meet you, too." Daisuke blushed awkwardly, shook hands a bit too hard, and then stepped back, feeling as though he had humiliated himself. 

Miyako sighed and pushed Daisuke away from where he was trying to hide behind her. "Hikari-san," she said politely, holding out a hand. "It's good to meet you." 

Hikari, a bit nervous at the –san title, nodded politely again. "Miyako-san," she said. "Same here." The –san ending felt awkward on her tongue, but she managed to say it. _'This isn't the same Miyako,'_ she reminded herself. '_She doesn't know me.'_

Iori bowed politely and introduced himself. "Hida Iori," he informed her. "I have heard much about you." 

She smiled back. "I hope it was good," she joked slightly before shaking hands and bowing back to the younger boy. 

"So – what's the plan?" Takeru spoke up. "Do you guys want to go to the digital world today or should we just all head home?" 

"I say we go to the digital world!" Daisuke decided. "Home here probably isn't much different from home in the other world – boring." 

"I agree," Miyako spoke up. "There's no point in us being here if we're only going to sit around. Let's knock down some towers!"

"Iori?" Hikari asked. "What do you want to do?" 

The youngest Chosen shrugged slightly. "I suppose we'll go to the digital world," he decided. "There's really no reason for us to be here if we don't help out." 

"Yea!" Chibimon called from Daisuke's arms. "Let's get going!" 

"Is everything ready to go, Koushiro?" Takeru asked. 

"Everything's fine," Koushiro replied pleasantly. He stepped aside to give the younger students easier access to the computer, and a few moments later, they were gone.

***

_Elsewhere…_

Daisuke picked himself up from the sand and stared at what remained of the base. The  building was now on fire. He barely had time to register a coherent thought before he was thrown to the ground again. A fiery attack came close to him, nearly singeing his hair, and he dived out of the way. 

"V-mon evolve! XV-mon!" The flying blue dragon was able to move his partner out of the way just in time. 

"Who's attacking us?" Miyako demanded. 

"They are!" Iori shouted over the confusion. "Dark Tyrannomon!" He pointed at the base, which was now surrounded by about seven of the large dinosaurs.

"Now would be a good time to get out of the way!" Daisuke advised. "XV-mon! Let's get 'em!" 

"Wait!" Miyako called. "We don't even know why they're after us!" 

"Isn't it obvious?" he returned. "They want to stop us from getting in there!" 

"They _could_ have another motive," she noted. 

"We don't have time to wonder _why_," Ken spoke up for the first time. "It's best to try to stop them before one of us ends up getting hurt." 

Miyako was about to reply to that when another fiery attack shot directly at them, knocking her off her feet. 

"Hawkmon evolve! Aquilamon!" The huge bird took to the air and fired its own attacks at the Dark Tyrannomon. "Blast Laser!" 

Ken and Iori helped Miyako to her feet. "Well, that was uncalled for," she noted, frowning slightly. "Get 'em, Aquilamon!" 

"There might be some dark rings," Patamon spoke up from atop Takeru's hat. "It would be advisable to shoot for them." 

Daisuke looked blank. "Dark rings?" he repeated. "But don't there have to be dark towers in the area for that?" 

"But there aren't any dark towers," Miyako observed. She pointed to the battle going on nearby. "Our digimon were able to evolve." 

Patamon shrugged. "I don't know. There weren't any towers around last time, and that Kuwagamon had a dark ring." 

"All right," Daisuke replied. "XV-mon! Look for the dark ring!" 

"Help him out, Aquilamon!" Miyako agreed. "Aim for the rings!" The large bird swooped gracefully between the flames and fired his own attack at the dinosaurs. 

"I'm not seeing any rings," he reported. 

"You'll have to look closely!" Patamon called. "The last one was pretty well hidden." He looked down at his partner. "Shall I?" 

"Digimental Up!" Takeru stated by way of reply. 

"Patamon armor evolve! Pegasmon - the hope that gallops across the heavens!" The flying horse was able to easily dodge the flaming attack, and Takeru quickly dived out of the way as well. 

Unfortunately, it headed directly toward where Ken and Iori were standing. 

"Get out of the way!" Takeru shouted, the first time any of them had heard him speak. Ken dived quickly to avoid the attack, throwing Iori down to the ground as well. 

"Armadimon evolve! Ankylomon!" The giant dinosaur was easily able to shield both humans from the attack. 

"Wormmon evolve! Stingmon!" Stingmon launched into the air, flying directly at the dinosaurs and preparing to attack. 

Ken stood up, dusting the sand from his school uniform and holding a hand out to Iori. "You all right?" 

Iori nodded. "Yeah. Thanks." 

Miyako watched as the slightly disgruntled group of now-freed Dark Tyrannomon departed. "Boy," she commented. "That was a lot easier than I thought it would be." 

"We still didn't get our questions answered," Iori noted. "We still don't know why they attacked us or who was controlling them." 

"I have a feeling they were here as a diversionary tactic," Ken spoke up. All eyes were on him instantly. 

"Diversionary?" Daisuke repeated. "Why?" 

He pointed to something large in the sky behind the base. "Airdramon. Whoever sent them was also inside there. The battle was to distract us long enough so they could get away." 

Iori frowned. "You think this world's Ken is with that person?" 

"Most likely." 

***

_Elsewhere…_

"Boy, that was a pretty boring day," Miyako noted as she walked through the streets in the direction of home. 

"Same old, same old," Takeru agreed. "Knock down towers, come home, sleep, go to school, knock down towers. That's how it's been for the past few weeks now." 

"You don't think it'll stay like that, do you?" Iori questioned. 

The older boy shook his head. "I really doubt it," he replied. "I know there's another enemy waiting in the shadows, and it's only a matter of time before it shows itself." 

"I wonder if that enemy here is the same enemy at home," Miyako mused. 

"There's always _some_ threat to the digital world," Takeru noted. "Otherwise, we wouldn't' be allowed to stay. The digital world doesn't let us in when it doesn't need us." 

***

Ken cautiously pushed open the door to his family's apartment. It was quiet. Dark and silent. 

_'I hope they weren't too worried about me – him – while he was gone,'_ he thought to himself. 

"Where is everyone?" he wondered aloud. "Mama?" 

He entered the apartment and turned on the nearest light switch. "Dad?" he called as he slipped off his shoes. "That's strange. They're not here, but they left the door open."

"Maybe things are more different in this world than you thought," Wormmon theorized. 

"Maybe," he replied, but didn't speculate. Quietly, he entered the kitchen and peered around. "So far everything _looks_ the same." 

He opened the refrigerator and noticed that his mother had arranged the drinks in exactly the same order as she always did. The cheese was on one shelf, next to the butter. The eggs were down below. The meat was in the drawer and the poultry in another. Leftovers from whatever had been eaten last were on the bottom shelf. 

"Exactly the same," he mused, removing a bottle of soda. 

The cups were in the same location. So were the plates, the silverware, the bowls. Everything. Frowning, Ken poured himself some soda and replaced the bottle in the refrigerator. As he drank the carbonated liquid, he scanned the counters and the front of the refrigerator for signs of where they might have gone. A circled date on the calendar or a note left, perhaps? But there was nothing. 

_'This is strange,'_ he thought to himself, draining the remainder of the soda and putting the cup in the sink. Cautiously, as though he were afraid some sort of monster might attack him, he crept through the apartment. 

The living room was empty, his parents' usual spot at the sofa empty and the television darkened. Ken left the room darkened and crept down the hall to the bedrooms. He cautiously opened the first door, glancing into the master bedroom for a brief moment. It was empty, the bed neatly made and the pillows fluffed. He turned and opened the door to his own bedroom. It looked much the same as his own, but it, too was empty. 

Flipping the wall switch, Ken entered the room and peered around. The bed was on the loft over his head, the computer on the desk at the wall. It had been left on, and the soft glow of the screen saver illuminated the papers left on the desk. A school bag, with books and papers was on the chair beside the desk, but everything else appeared normal. 

Suddenly, a loud, harsh ringing sound broke the silence. He jumped nearly a foot in the air before he realized it was the telephone. Composing himself, he picked up the phone he kept in his room and spoke into the mouthpiece. 

"Hello? Ichijouji residence." 

"Ken?" His father's voice filtered through the telephone line. "Oh thank goodness, I was starting to get worried." 

"I'm sorry, Dad, I just got in," he replied. "Um – where is everyone?" He decided changing the subject might help.

"I just called home to say that I'm running late at the office, but I think I'm going to leave now. No one else is home?" 

"No. And the door was left open." 

"Oh." Ken could hear the audible relief in his father's voice, but didn't understand why until he had explained. "Osamu must be taking a nap then. Go ahead and wake him up. He should know better than to leave the door open."

"Right." _'Osamu? I forgot about that. He's alive in this world.'_ Suddenly, Ken felt his knees go weak. He sank down into the desk chair, pushing the school books aside, heedless of the crash they made as they tumbled to the floor. 

"So as soon as your mother gets home we'll head out to dinner," Mr. Ichijouji concluded whatever he had been talking about. "Ken?" 

"Yes?" 

"What was that crash?" 

"Oh – I – some books. Just fell off the desk. I'll pick them up." 

"Oh. Okay. Anyway, make sure you get your brother out of bed before your mother gets back from the store. She finds that he left the door open and she'll be pretty mad." 

"Okay. Bye Dad." 

Ken hung up the phone a moment later feeling very disoriented. He picked up the books from the floor and placed them in their proper places on the desk. "How am I going to explain this?" he wondered. 

"You all right, Ken?" Wormmon questioned from where he was sitting on the desk. "You looked kind of scared for a moment there." 

"Osamu's home," Ken replied. Before Wormmon could answer, the phone rang again. Prepared this time, he answered it on the first ring. "Ichijouji residence." 

"Ken? That you?" Daisuke's voice was clear despite the distance between them. 

"Yes, Daisuke. Is something wrong?" Immediately, a list of possible explanations ran through his mind. Perhaps Daisuke's family lived in a different apartment complex in this world and he didn't know where to go. Perhaps his parents had noticed some difference. 

"No, I just wanted to check in," Daisuke assured him. "Everything seems to be the same in this world. Same apartment and everything. I haven't noticed any differences yet and neither have my parents. How's it there?" 

"About the same," he replied, pleased at himself for sounding more serene than he felt. "My parents were out, but my father just called and should be home soon. I think he said we'll go out to eat tonight, since they were running late." 

"What are you going to tell them about being missing?" 

He shook his head. "I don't know," he admitted. "Last time, they didn't ask, I don't think, but I was too out of it to notice. I guess I just won't say anything." _'Osamu would never fall for that,'_ he chided himself, but paid no attention to his inner voice. 

"Okay, great," Daisuke appeared audibly cheered by this. "I'm going to call the others now and make sure everything's fine there. I guess we'll meet tomorrow like we planned?" 

"Right."   
  


Ken hung up the phone again. '_Why didn't I tell him about Osamu? Why didn't I mention something about Osamu when we first planned this mission? I didn't even think of him. Why not?' _The thoughts continued through his mind as he exited his bedroom and opened the next one. 

Osamu's bedroom was set up in predictably the same manner as his own – and how he recalled his brother's to have been arranged in his own universe. Cautiously, Ken opened the door, tapping on the wooden frame in case he might be perceived as an intruder. "Osamu?" he questioned, and the name tasted strange on his lips. "Osamu?" he repeated, and it didn't seem so foreign now. 

A groan came from above him, and he heard the bed springs creak as his older brother rolled over. Ken felt a shudder run down his spine. _'He's up there! He's really alive!_" For a moment, he was frozen in time as his brain struggled to grasp this concept. He flipped on the light switch and heard and even louder groan from the bed above his head. 

"What do you want?" Osamu was too asleep to even notice who had intruded on his nap. He buried his head in the pillows, shutting out the light. 

"Osamu? Mom and Dad will be home soon. We're going to go out to eat." 

"Great." The elder boy covered his head with the blanket. 

"Dad just called, too. And Osamu? You left the door open before." 

"You forgot the key, didn't you?" Osamu retorted without even turning his head. The rude intruder didn't respond, and so he shut his eyes again, blocking the light. _'Stupid, annoying little brothers,'_ he thought to himself as he tried to drift back into dreamland. '_Can't even understand when someone has to take a nap.'_

It was a few moments more before he realized the reasoning behind his thoughts. Then, Osamu heaved himself over the side of his bed and landed gracefully on the floor below. He paused just long enough to grab his glasses from his desk and then launched himself into his brother's room. "Where have you been?" he demanded. 

Ken was searching through a pile of school books on his desk. At Osamu's question, he looked up, questions in his eyes. "Here?" he asked. 

Osamu shook his head and slammed his hand on the school book on the top of the pile. "Don't feed me that!" he replied. "Mom and Dad might have bought that last time, but I didn't! And I still don't!" A vein was beginning to appear on his forehead. 

"I –," Ken began, backing up, clearly alarmed by his violent behavior. 

"You disappeared for close to six months, Ken! SIX!" he was definitely yelling now. "And then, when you came back, we got _no_ explanation as to where you'd been!" He frowned and peered into his brother's face. "What are you mixed up in?" 

"Mixed up in?" Ken repeated. 

Osamu nodded. "You're mixed up in something, I know it. Organized crime, maybe? Something bad. Something _illegal_." His voice was slightly calmer now.

Ken shook his head. "No," he replied. 

His brother didn't let him  get any further into the explanation. He stepped forward. "If you've done something _illegal_," he warned. 

"No, no!" Ken shook his head, anxious to calm his brother before he became more violent. "Nothing illegal at all!" 

"So where were you?"

Osamu was astonished when his younger brother merely shook his head. "I can't tell you." 

"So it _is_ illegal." 

"It's not!" the younger Ichijouji insisted. 

"Then why can't you tell me?" he demanded. 

"You – wouldn't understand." 

Osamu frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. "I don't buy that, Ken," he replied. He pushed past his brother and into the room. "Where would you go for six months? And _why?_" He jumped on to the bed and peered down at his younger brother. 

"I can't tell you." Ken repeated. 

The elder boy was nearly infuriated now. "Why?" he demanded, slamming a fist onto the bed. 

Ken winced as if it had been almost a physical blow. "You wouldn't understand." 

Osamu shook his head in disbelief. "I don't buy it. I'm betting it's illegal." He flopped back on the bed and stretched his legs out.

"Ah!" a small voice shouted from the blankets. Osamu leapt up, startled, banging his head on the ceiling. 

"What was _that?"_ he demanded. 

Ken was attempting to look indifferent and failing miserably. "What was what?" 

"Oh no! Don't you start telling me I'm going nuts. There's something in here." He began to ruffle around in the sheets, searching. 

"Osamu, no!" Ken shouted. His warning came too late. Osamu felt his hand hit something. 

"Found it!" he declared triumphantly, closing his hand around the object. "Ah!" he shouted, leaping into the air again. "It bit me!" 

Ken quickly ascended the ladder and pulled the offending object from his bed. It was a small green creature with a large blue eyes and a purple snout. "What – what _is_ that?" Osamu demanded, still nursing a sore finger. 

"He won't hurt you," his brother assured him, but the elder boy shook his head.

"Yeah right! He just bit me!" 

"That's because you startled me," the creature replied. "I was in the middle of a nap." Osamu nearly fell off the bed. 

"It talks?" 

"Of course I talk," the strange creature answered, it's snout moving side to side as he spoke, as if it _were_ really talking. "All digimon can. Well – most anyway." 

"D-d-d-digimon?" Osamu repeated. 

"It's okay, Osamu," Ken assured him. "Wormmon is my partner." 

"P-p-p-partner?" 

"Does he always talk like that?" the green creature questioned of Ken.

"No, it's just because he's scared," the boy replied. 

"Why? There's nothing to be scared of." 

"Well, he's never seen a digimon before," Ken reminded him. "Some people are quite scared when they first see a digimon. I've heard that Jyou ran around for quite some time, afraid of his own partner." 

"Was he scary looking?" 

"I don't think so. I think he was just afraid because he'd never seen him before." 

The green creature looked slightly more assured now. Osamu gathered his courage and spoke. "Digimon – partner?" he repeated. "There are more of him?" 

"There are hundreds – thousands of digimon," his brother replied. "Wormmon is only one _type_ of digimon." 

"Digimon," Osamu repeated. 

"Digimon. Short for _digital monsters_," the creature identified as Wormmon explained. "Though I'm not sure I like the monster part. It sounds rather negative." 

"I'll say," Osamu agreed. "Wait. I'm talking with you and you're here. Real." 

Wormmon nodded, looking confused. "Yes." 

"That means I'm _not_ dreaming?" 

"I woke you up ten minutes ago, Osamu," Ken reminded him.

Osamu rubbed his temples and sighed. 

***

Standard notes: This is the sequel to my story "A Stranger Digiworld." If you haven't read that yet, it's advisable to do so. This one _might_ stand on its own, but it probably won't. Read that one first. It's at:

http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=326235

If there's anything here that doesn't make sense to you – (like Osamu being alive in one world, and the skipping getting confusing)- my advice is…READ THE PREQUEL! 

Some of the stuff in here is confusing, I'm trying to make it not. Hopefully it will make more sense now that they've switched. ^_^ 

sigh Sorry, everyone, if Osamu is written very out of character. It's kind of hard to write for a dead guy, but he has to go in here! Look for more dramatic stuff in the next part, when the visiting Chosen _finally _go after that evil person. Yeah, I know I said it would happen here, but I lied. You'll have to wait some more. ^_^


	6. Part Six: There's TWO Of Them?!

Evil's New Claim

Part Six: There's Two of Them?

***

Standard Disclaimer Thingy: Digimon and all the characters belong to ME! Yes! Me! ::snaps out of hallucination:: Actually, they belong to various people wearing suits – the companies like Toei and Saban and the American Version is Fox Kids, but they can have that one… I'd rather have the original. The plot of this fanfiction, however, _is_ all MINE! 

***

A tall, thin man with a cane peered out over the digital landscape. The warm glow of the firelight behind him highlighted the features of his long blue trench coat and tall blue hat. 

"_What_ are you staring at?" the woman he considered to be his beloved demanded from somewhere near that fire. Her voice was impatient.

"I was just thinking how wonderful this valley looks now that the towers have been restored," he replied dreamily, a glazed look appearing in the one eye visible over his high-collared jacket.

She groaned, but he barely noticed. "What are you, are an artist?" she questioned, the sarcasm dripping over her words. "We can't sit around admiring our work. There's still much to be done." 

"Like what?" he wondered, finally turning away from the scenery and peering at her with a confused expression. 

She smiled as she noted the nearby television. "I have a little snooping to do." 

***

Ken blinked his eyes once, then twice. He was still dazed. What had awakened him? It was still dark – it couldn't be time to get up yet. Then he noticed the soft glow that filled the room. His computer was on!

He peered sleepily over the edge of his loft bed. A woman stood by his computer, holding a disk. She was unclear in the dim light, but he knew she wasn't his mother. 

"What are you doing?" he demanded, suddenly aware as all sleep drifted from his mind. 

The woman jumped, startled. "What are you doing here?" 

"It's _my_ room," he replied. "_I_ belong here." 

"No – you're not supposed to be here – you're supposed to be with her," she stopped herself, realizing she'd said too much. 

Ken realized it, too. "With _who_?" he demanded. 

The woman recovered her composure. "That's my business, not yours. You shouldn't go messing where you don't belong, little boy." 

"Like in my room," he reminded her. "You shouldn't be here. Who are you and what do you want?" 

The woman didn't respond. There was, instead, a flash of bright light from the monitor and then she was gone. Hurriedly, he climbed down the ladder and examined his computer. 

"She came from the digital world?" Wormmon mumbled sleepily. 

"Looks like it," he replied, still frowning. 

He moved to turn it off, but before he could, the woman's face appeared again on the screen. She wore an elaborate red hat and dark sunglasses, and her hair was white. "She's mine, now, you know," she stated. 

"She who?" 

"She's no harder to control than you were." 

His eyes narrowed. "Just what are you talking about?" he demanded. 

"Oh come on. Really. You're smarter than that." 

"You. You were controlling me. And now there's someone else you're controlling. _Who?"_ he demanded.

"Hahaha," she laughed, mocking his questions. "I can't answer everything, can I?" 

"**_Who_**_ is she_?" 

But she was gone, and the screen was dark, leaving a very confused and angry Ken. 

***

Daisuke frowned as he peered over the digital landscape at the rows of dark towers that  had been resurrected almost overnight. "I don't understand this!" he grumbled in frustration. "I just _know_ this field was clear yesterday." 

"It was," Iori noted in solemn voice. "Someone is definitely working here to put up the towers again. And that someone is probably who we're looking for." 

"Is it just me, or are there more towers here than were knocked down?" Patamon questioned thoughtfully. He peered down at his partner, who had a similar expression on his features – confusion. Takeru only shrugged. 

"It would help if someone else was here who helped knock them down," Armadimon pointed out.

"But I don't think it would be a good idea to disturb them," Patamon disagreed. 

Daisuke glanced toward Miyako, having noted that she'd been quiet throughout most of the conversation. "Miya? You okay?" 

"I see something," Miyako replied. "I just wish I could see what it was." 

"What?" Daisuke tried vainly to look in the same direction as the purple haired girl, but saw nothing. 

"I saw something moving. I don't know what it was," she replied. "Let's check it out." 

Iori spoke up: "Are you sure that's wise? With towers back up, there could be controlled digimon in the area." 

"We'll risk it," Daisuke decided, having already ordered V-mon to armor evolve.

"But don't we have to wait for Ken?" Patamon asked. 

"You guys stay here," declared Miyako. "This won't take long." 

Both boys looked reluctant, but agreed, and so the two rushed off to investigate whatever Miyako had seen. 

Once a fair distance from their comrades, Daisuke sighed. "I wonder what's happened to Takeru," he wondered. 

"Remember that Hikari's gone in this world," Miyako reminded him. "Takeru probably took that really hard." 

Daisuke couldn't help empathizing with that. "It feels really weird here, without her," he noted more casually than he felt, a slight chill running down his spine.

***

On a hill overlooking the group of children, a woman in a red dress surveyed the scene. "Isn't that sweet?" she crooned. "They fell right into the trap." 

The tall man standing next to her leaned heavily on his wooden cane. "They're not too smart, are they?" he wondered with a slightly deranged-sounding laugh.

***

"They're heading this way!" 

Ken, who had been doing nothing but standing the past few days, weakly lifted his head to wonder what his captor was shrieking about this time. 

"I thought I had hidden this place, but, no, they've spotted it. Impossible! I'll have to send out something capable of defeating them. Something strong."

The captive boy was too exhausted and weak to care about the ranting and raving of this mysterious woman. Suddenly, he felt a soft touch at his chin, and a small figure held a cup to his lips, allowing him to drink cool, thirst-quenching water for the first time. 

"Thanks," he whispered, softly. 

The figure didn't respond as it drifted back into the darkness. 

***

Iori blinked as he viewed the tall black digimon emerging from what appeared to be the solid ground. "What is _that?_" he stammered, unable to keep the surprise from his normally calm voice. 

Takeru, as usual, said nothing, and Armadimon merely peered with stunned eyes similar to his partner's, so it was up to Patamon to fill in: "Devidramon," the small flying mammal replied.

"Devidramon?" Iori repeated. "I've never seen _those_."

"No, they're not very common," Patamon replied. "We haven't seen them since the battle with Vamdemon in Tokyo."

"But they're dangerous?" Armadimon wondered. 

Patamon nodded. "Yes. Very dangerous." 

Iori nodded, his jaw set firm now, the panic gone from his face. "What are they doing here?" 

"Most likely whoever controls these towers sent them," Patamon replied. "If we can get the towers knocked out, our adult forms will be more effective. That is, if we can stay in the battle long enough to get the towers knocked down." 

***

"Ah. She's resourceful," the man in the blue hat commented cheerfully. "I didn't think she'd manage to _find_ a Devidramon, much less control one."

"Hmm. She has good qualities. That's why we chose her. But a couple of Devidramon _won't_ be enough."

"You're suggesting we help her out, darling?" his voice lowered to what he considered a sensual tone.

The woman whacked him over the head with his own cane, causing him to fall flat on his face. "Don't call me darling!" she snapped. "We'll assist, just not yet. Wait until they're done. Then we'll jump in." 

"What about the other one?" he asked as he rubbed the back of his head, sitting up. 

"Huh?" 

"The other one, that you were snooping on last night. Where's he?" 

She shrugged. "Who knows. Maybe I scared him off. I think maybe he was a dream." 

"Well, he's not here, so he mustn't be much of a threat." 

***

"Daisuke, we've got to head back! Iori and Takeru are in trouble!" Miyako shouted to him as she steered Holsmon in front of Lighdramon. 

"Trouble?" he looked back to where they had left the other two. "Dude! What are those things?" 

"I don't know, but I'm guessing they're not friendly," Lighdramon supplied. 

"Doesn't look like Iori and Takeru think they're too nice either," Daisuke observed, as Patamon and Armadimon took on their armor forms. 

***

Takeru clenched his fingers tightly as he watched Pegasmon dodge the Devidramon's swinging arms. He bit his lower lip with his teeth, almost making it bleed. 

_'Why did it have to be Devidramon?'_ he demanded mentally. _'Why? I haven't seen them since we were still searching for Hikari. Why did they have to show up now? Why is it that whoever we're up against uses them when we've not seen them since then?'_

Takeru took all his self control and used it to not cry out at Pegasmon. His digimon narrowly dodged the attacks, and then tossed his own back. 

_'Oh Hikari,'_ he thought. _'Would this be different if you were here? Would it be so much better? Like it is in their world?' _His eyes strayed towards the young boy beside him, who was shouting encouragement to Digmon as he struggled to be effective against his much larger opponent. 

***

"Blue Thunder!" 

The blast from Lighdramon zapped the Devidramon from behind, diverting the enemy and managing to allow the slower-moving Digmon time to escape the quick moving claws.

Devidramon roared in anger and slashed at Lighdramon, but his opponent was agile and able to dodge the attack with ease. "Sorry, but you'll have to be faster than that," Daisuke taunted as he jumped from his partner's back in the interest of safety. 

"Takeru, get out of the way!" Miyako shouted, launching herself from her own digimon on to the boy below. Both fell to the ground, inches below the swipe of the Devidramon's claws only seconds before they would have slashed Takeru in half. 

"Tempest Wing!" Holsmon shouted, whipping himself into a furious tornado and attacking the Devidramon. 

"Shooting Star!" Pegasmon added his own attack. 

"Holsmon!" Miyako shouted. "Do you see the dark ring?" 

"I'm not seeing it," the giant bird digimon replied. "You?" 

"On the neck," Pegasmon shouted in reply. "But I can't hit it, he's moving too fast!"

"I've got it," Digmon shouted, temporarily diverting himself from his own opponent. "Gold Rush!" Immediately, the drills positioned on him flew up, attacking the Devidramon from underneath. Too occupied with the fight with Holsmon and Pegasmon, the Devidramon never had a chance. 

The dark ring dissolved into data, and the Devidramon immediately took to the air with a scream of anger and pain. It was gone a moment later. 

Now that there remained only one Devidramon, they applied a similar strategy. Lighdramon attacked from behind and Holsmon and Pegasmon attacked from the air. This Devidramon, however, protected his undersides and was able to fend off the expected attack from Digmon, swinging one of his vicious claws and forcing the land-dwelling digimon to de-evolve. 

"Armadimon!" Iori shouted, as was appropriate during such an occasion, but the small golden digimon merely smiled weakly from his place, indicating that he would be fine in the end. Sufficiently relieved, Iori nodded and calmed down a bit.

However, the plan, despite the casualty, was not a total failure. As the Devidramon preoccupied itself with attacking Digmon, Holsmon was able to attack from the air and destroy the dark ring. The Devidramon flew away, much as the previous one had. 

"Let's get rid of these towers while we still can!" Daisuke advised. "I don't think those were the last of them!"

***

"Now would be a good time to jump in, wouldn't you agree, dear?" He leaned against his cane as he asked the question. 

***

"No! Impossible! How? How could they defeat two Devidramon? And only in armor forms? They _cannot_ be that strong! They never were before!"

"Perhaps they got stronger. Or you underestimated them," Ken ventured to interrupt. Instead of lashing out at him, his captor paid no attention to him, instead turning back to one of the monitors. 

"There's got to be something strong enough. Maybe if I ran them over with a herd of Monochromon. Or Mammothmon. They can't defeat _them_!"

"You don't _have_ a herd of Mammothmon," the creature that had given Ken the water earlier stated in a soft voice. 

"Well then I'll _get_ some!" she declared. 

Both Ken and the small creature merely stared as she stormed her way from the room. Ken sighed when she left, and then peered curiously in the direction of the small creature. "Do you know what's happened to Wormmon?" he questioned. 

The creature shrugged, a movement barely visible in the dim light. "No. Sorry." 

Ken frowned. "Somehow I feel I should recognize you," he mused, trying to make conversation and find out his captors' identity. 

The creature shrugged again and didn't reply. Then silence filled the room. 

***

A dark tower is a magnificent thing sometimes. Even after his return to the side of Good and Light and all those angelic things and was feeling generally bad and horrid about himself, Ken had to admit that. They were sheer brilliance. 

Now if only they could have been used for something a little – nicer.

When one sees a field of these tall obelisks somewhere in the midst of a digital desert, one has no choice but to shiver. If one is on the side of Bad and Evil and Darkness, one shivers in astonishment – and perhaps even pride - because this field of blackened pincushions symbolizes all that they wish to accomplish. Control over things, torture of innocent creatures. Evil sorts of things. 

But to those on the side of Good and Light and those sorts of things, one feels that shudder of terror, because it is what you are working against. To the second generation of Chosen Children in Odaiba, the tall black spires symbolized evil, but they had _seen _ that evil first hand. And one of them – one of them had _caused_ that evil. 

As Daisuke watched the field of towers plummet to the ground one by one, he felt as though he was getting one step closer to wiping out not only the evil _symbolized_ by the towers, but the _actual_ evil as well. 

He had no idea – none of them did, except for perhaps Ken (who wasn't there so it didn't matter)- what or who they were up against. They had not even _seen_ their opponent, which made them of course all the more powerful and dangerous. They could not compromise on personal weaknesses. They could not bargain with things that they knew might strike a chord. They didn't even know how strong this opponent was.

There was one thing Daisuke knew for certain, however, and that was when you saw a horde of nearly a hundred large sized-digimon running at you at top speed with no intention of stopping before they pound you into a pancake, you were doomed. There was _no_ point in fighting, especially when you had just finished nearly getting flattened by another enemy. 

When Daisuke first became a Chosen, seeing a horde of giant Mammothmon and Monochromon racing towards him would have set his adrenaline pumping, and he would have dived into the fight. But thankfully, he knew better now, and he had learned at least enough to know when to run away and retreat. This, he decided, was definitely one of those times. 

"Run!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, feeling his vocal chords bruise just with the force of that scream. "Run! Fly! Whatever! Get moving!" 

The others didn't need to be told twice.

***

For some reason, Osamu seemed to be taking the news that his brother was on a mission to save the world very hard. He was quite disbelieving, and spent much of the following morning attempting to figure out how to get the batteries out of Wormmon's stomach. He was only slightly more convinced of the creatures alive status when he saw the little digimon gobble up a plate of pancakes faster than anyone or anything he'd ever seen. 

"Amazing," the elder brother kept mumbling, even as he watched his younger sibling pace around the apartment with the most serious of expressions. 

It was rare that Ichijouji Osamu had nothing to do. But his afternoon job tutoring calculus had been cancelled that afternoon – he couldn't understand why anyone would voluntarily cancel calculus tutoring appointments, so he assumed it must be a dire emergency – and so he was hanging around, watching his brother pace and talking to the small green – creature that talked back. 

"Any ideas?" Wormmon asked, noticing his partner hadn't eaten very much of _his _stack of pancakes. 

"Not one," he replied. "I know this lady – whoever she is – was controlling me – and now there's someone else. And she's female. If she is anything like I was, she must be Chosen, too. But who?"

Osamu attempted to follow the conversation despite his lack of knowledge. Ken had told him very little, in fact, almost nothing, and so he was trying to grasp the few things that made sense. "Chosen?" he repeated. "Those are the ones that have digimon, right?" 

"Right," Wormmon replied, since Ken was lost in thought again. 

"So, you just have to think of all the females that have digimon and work on it from there." 

"That's not as easy as it sounds," Ken replied. "There are a lot of Chosen, and I'm – I'm new at this so I don't know all of them." 

"Just try!" Osamu declared, becoming exasperated. "What else can you do? Wait for an answer to pop into your head?" 

Ken shrugged. "Well, there's Sora, but I don't think it would be her, and Mimi, but she's in New York. I think. I'm not sure if that's the same here. And then there's Miyako, but it can't be her – I saw her yesterday." He frowned. "That didn't help! There are only four Chosen girls that I know of!" 

"Did you forget how to count?" Osamu joked. "You only named three." 

"Well, yes, but Hikari – she's…"

"She's what?" 

"She's - !"

***

Standard Note: Just a reminder if you were confused by this, you _must_ read the prequel. Must. You can find it at: 

http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=326235

Is there anyone who hasn't figured out who the evil person in this story is?  ^_~ Is there anyone who knew before? I tried _not_ to make it too obvious, but I was surprised no one guessed!

Credit _must_ go to the fabulous author Athena not merely because she's brilliant, but because without her fabulous suggestion I wouldn't have bothered to include Arachnemon and Mummymon in this story at all. So thanks! ^_^ 

Well, this is the part where I give hints about what's coming up, right? Well, there's going to be fighting. Yes. That's about all I can guarantee at this moment. Lots of fighting and some real emotional scenes. And maybe they'll eat cake at the end. 

Ah well, as I have nothing more to impart, I'll depart now with a thanks to all those fabulous people (that aren't Athena that reviewed.) Thanks! ^_^ 


	7. Part Seven: Reunited - Partially

Evil's New Claim

Part Seven: Reunited - Partially

***

Standard Disclaimer Thingy: Digimon and its characters aren't mine, the plot of this story is. Any questions? Tough.

***

Nervously, Ken tapped on the door of the apartment marked Yagami. _'I can do this. I can do this,'_ he reminded himself. _'I've faced down evil digimon, surely I can manage to talk to one person.'_

A friendly but tired looking woman answered the door. "Yes?" asked the woman that he assumed to be Mrs. Yagami. 

"Ah…excuse me," Ken began in his Most Polite Voice reserved for speaking with adults. "I'm looking for Yagami Taichi. Is he here?" 

"Oh, yes. Come in. He's in his room, doing homework. But I'm sure he won't mind being interrupted," she replied cheerfully. 

For a moment, Ken considered backing away, saying he didn't want to disturb him, and running out the door. But he didn't. Instead, he reminded himself that this was for The Group and the good of everyone and so he mustered his courage even though he had very little and then knocked on the door of the older boy's room. 

Taichi's door opened and the big-haired boy poked his head around the edge of the doorway. "What?" he demanded with some annoyance. His eyes, tired as his mother's, locked on the dark haired boy. "What?" he repeated with slightly less ire. Instead, confusion filled his voice. 

"Can I talk with you, please?" Ken questioned in the same Most Polite Voice he'd used on Mrs. Yagami. 

The older boy appeared to think for a moment, but relented, and stepped aside, allowing his uninvited guest into the room. "What do you want?" he questioned without tact as soon as the door had been shut again. 

"I think I should explain something," Ken began. "I'm not from this world." 

"What?" 

"I came here from an alternate universe. I know that sounds crazy, but it's true. I've been in contact with my self from this world, and he went missing. So the Miyako, Daisuke, and Iori from my world came with me to help find him." 

"So - Miyako, Daisuke, and Iori from this world?" 

"Are in my world, covering for their missing doubles. You could ask them, but now's not the time. We need to hurry." 

"Why?" Taichi frowned. This was confusing, and most likely not possible.

"Because they are in danger and you may be the only one that can help them." 

***

The silver-haired woman sighed dramatically as she pulled a hair from her head. "For the last time, Mummymon, I'm not your _'dear'_," she replied. 

***

"I've never seen so many Mammothmon in my life!" Miyako noted as she gripped tightly to Holsmon. 

"And Monochromon," Iori agreed from behind her, he and Armadimon having hitched a ride. "Where did they all come from?" 

"Probably the same person that sent those Devidramon," Armadimon theorized.

"They're getting awfully close!" Miyako half-shouted to Holsmon. "Can't you go any faster?"

"I'm going as fast as I can, Miyako," her partner replied. 

***

"And for what reason should I consider believing you?" Taichi questioned. His arms were folded over his chest, and his expression was bordering on angry. 

"Because I've been in Hikari-san's position," Ken replied as calmly as possible. "She needs your help." 

The older boy was silent in thought for a moment. He turned his head the opposite direction. "My sister's dead," he said in a quiet voice. 

"I thought so too, but there's someone that's resurrected the dark towers, and it isn't me. It's not Daisuke, Miyako, Iori, or Takeru either. Taichi-san, I know you don't want to believe me, but the digital world needs your help." 

"And if this is a trap?" the other questioned, turning back to the other with some amount of anger in his eyes. 

"It's not. I give you my word. Please."

***

"Can't we go _any_ faster?" Daisuke shouted over the pounding feet of the giant digimon surrounding him. "They're getting closer!"  
"Sorry," Lighdramon replied. "I'm going as fast as I can!" 

The Mammothmon herd had surrounded the boy and his digimon, however, and now they were running within the herd. Suddenly, six of the giant elephant-like creatures stopped in front of them. 

Daisuke stared at the angry red spiral-controlled eyes and cursed under his breath. 

***

"Fine," Taichi agreed finally. "I'll go. But only because I have your word. I find out this is a lie, and I will personally make your life a living hell." 

Ken nodded, gulped slightly, and followed Taichi from the room. The elder boy waved to his mother. 

"I'm going out for a bit, Mom," he informed her. "I should be back for dinner, though." 

Mrs. Yagami smiled with some worry. "Be careful, Taichi," she said with forced casualness. 

"I will," he promised as he shut the door behind him. 

***

"Daisuke, I don't think we have a choice," Lighdramon stated. "We'll have to fight." 

"There's no way we can win!" he protested. Daisuke was a boy with an active imagination, and a willingness to fight lost causes, but one single boy and his armor-evolved digimon against a hundred or so controlled Monochromon and Mammothmon were odds that even he had to admit were very slim. "We've got to look for the nearest port out of here!"  
"What about the others?" his partner questioned. 

"They'll manage – they can fly!" Daisuke replied, for about the millionth time in his life so far berating that the fates – or the digital world itself - had not given him a partner with some sort of flying abilities in his armor forms. 

"Shooting Star!" Pegasmon shouted, as he – and Takeru flew in from over head. Daisuke peered up at the flying horse. 

"Takeru – there's no way we have a chance against these guys. We've got to find the nearest TV!" he shouted. 

"I don't see one," Pegasmon replied as he fired his attack once more. One of the Mammothmon cried out in pain, but the dark ring was missed entirely and so the large digimon only became angrier. 

"Blue Thunder!" Lighdramon had no choice but to fire his own attack. 

"De-evolve!" Pegasmon shouted. "We'll pull you out!" 

"If we survive, you mean!" Daisuke replied. 

***

"Miyako, I'm sorry," Holsmon gasped. "I'm so – tired." Slowly, the group was getting closer to the ground, and Holsmon began to glow slightly with the fading energy. 

"Oh no!" Miyako cried. "Holsmon, please, try to hang in there!" But it was pointless. After safely landing on the ground, Holsmon de-evolved to Hawkmon, causing his three riders to thump unceremoniously to the ground. 

Almost immediately, they were surrounded by a group of Monochromon, all with red, angry eyes and a craving, Miyako thought, for digital blood. 

***

Ken, Taichi, and Wormmon appeared at the site of the nearest television port from the real world. It was on a hill overlooking a ravine. In the distance in one direction they could see a strange building that appeared to be doing its best to hide from the world. In the opposite direction, a huge stampede of large digimon was running at full blast through the dried riverbed. 

"Damn!" Ken muttered. "We're late." 

"What's going on here?" Taichi wondered. 

"I could be wrong, but I think that building is where you'll find Hikari," Ken replied. He removed his D-terminal from his pocket and began typing furiously. 

"What are you doing?" the other questioned. 

"Getting us some help," he answered. 

***

"I sure hope the others are having more adventure than us," Daisuke sighed. "This place is pretty boring." He felt qualified to make such a statement because he was currently lounging on a couch, watching television. 

Hikari sat beside him. "Well, would you rather be bored or risk your life?" she questioned. 

"Risk my life!" he replied without so much as a moment's thought. 

"I don't know," Miyako thought seriously from his opposite side. "When I'm bored I want to fight, and when I'm fighting I'd rather be bored." 

Iori, too, thought seriously about his response before he spoke. "I think that if I must fight, I must fight," he answered. "If I was safe and secure, I wouldn't be bored." 

Takeru sighed. "I'd rather not risk my life," he admitted. "But I can't say I don't enjoy the adventure of the digital world." 

Hikari was about to add her own thoughts when her D-terminal began to beep. "Email!" she grinned triumphantly, opening the device. 

Takeru took a sip of his soda and twisted sideways in the armchair he was lounging in, throwing his legs over the side of the chair. As they were at his father's apartment, he felt he could do such things, which would be prohibited at his mother's. 

"Hey – is that food ready yet?" Daisuke wondered, standing up and heading for the kitchen. Yamato, who took his cooking very seriously, proceeded to debate with the younger boy the virtue of leaving someone alone while they're cooking. 

"Don't worry about the food, Daisuke," Hikari interrupted before the argument could progress much further. "We've got to go." 

"Go?" he repeated blankly. 

"But we haven't eaten yet," Chibimon protested from where he had been left on the couch. 

"We'll have to take it to go," Takeru decided, looking over the email for himself. 

"What's going on?" Miyako wondered. 

"It's from Ken," Hikari replied. "They've figured out who they enemy is, and they need our help." 

Yamato poked his head in from the kitchen. "Food's done. You're taking it with you?" 

"We'll have to," Takeru agreed. 

"Great. I'm coming, too."

***

"Okay, Lighdramon," Daisuke decided. "Now!" A glow surrounded his partner, and a moment later he was V-mon once more. He jumped quickly into his partner's arms, and Daisuke lifted a hand up. 

Pegasmon maneuvered dangerously close to the circle of large digimon, and Takeru held his hand out. Daisuke jumped into the air a few inches and managed to grab the other boy's hand. Then Pegasmon tried as hard as possible to lift them even further out of the air. 

"It's – not – going – to – work," the flying digimon gasped with some effort. 

"No!" Takeru half shouted, grunting in exertion as he tried to pull Daisuke up. "Keep – trying." 

"Daisuke!" another voice shouted from somewhere on the boy's right, and a moment later, someone had maneuvered between them and grabbed V-mon from his arms. 

"Takeru!" the boy shouted. "How did you - ?" 

"Ken sent us an email," the boy replied. Setting V-mon in front of him, he reached out and grasped Daisuke's other arm. "Ready?" he questioned of his double. 

The other Takeru nodded, and in unison, they began to lift Daisuke from the circle of Mammothmon. 

***

Miyako and Iori stood as close together as possible as they stared at the encroaching Monochromon. Neither Armadimon nor Hawkmon had the strength to evolve to even their armor forms, the latter being semi-unconscious in Miyako's arms after the battle with the Devidramon and the quick flight from the massive herds. 

"Well, it's been nice knowing you, Iori. If you manage to survive and I don't, do you think you could say nice things at my funeral?" Miyako asked, her voice wavering. 

Iori rolled his eyes slightly at his friend's touch for the dramatic, and said instead: "Miyako, don't be silly. We'll be fine." 

"How can you say that?" Miyako demanded. "There's a herd of massive Monochromon looming over us and our digimon can't evolve! How can we be fine??"

Iori blinked twice. "Because the cavalry has arrived," he replied instead, pointing to the sky. 

Miyako looked up to see Holsmon flying towards her. She blinked, looked at Hawkmon in her arms, and realized what must be happening. "Hey! All right! Having a double _does_ have benefits!" 

A few moments later, all eleven chosen from both worlds stood on the hill overlooking the ravine. The Monochromon and Mammothmon, powerless to get near them from the ravine below, merely returned to their natural grazing activity. 

Yamato blinked at the eight doubles. "This is going to be confusing, isn't it?" he quipped. 

No one bothered to reply to his statement of the obvious. "Our best bet will be to fly over the Monochromon and try to attack from the other side," Daisuke stated. 

"Dude, that won't work," his double replied. "Hikari might get hurt that way." 

Daisuke looked dubiously at the girl standing nearby. "She can handle it," he answered, confused. 

Hikari shook her head. "Not me, Daisuke," she replied. "My double."

Now it was Miyako's turn to be astonished. "I thought she was – well – dead?" 

Her double explained. "So did we, but she's not." 

"So what _did_ happen to Hikari?" Iori questioned. "I thought the Kaiser had – well – left her for dead." 

"Apparently, she survived," his double replied. "We're not quite sure how." 

"So, that's why Taichi's here?" Daisuke questioned. 

Ken nodded. "I thought he might be of use. And Hikari as well," he added, nodding towards the girl with them. 

"He also realized you were in serious trouble and so he called us in as reinforcements," Takeru finished with a grin. 

"Including food!" Yamato added, holding out a paper sack stuffed with food. 

***

_to be continued…_


End file.
